Migrants left to drown with Europe in their sights

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Since the start of the year, Lesbos has seen the number of migrants coming ashore double to 5,178Getty Images

Anthee CarassavaLesbos

Published at 12:01AM, August 29 2014

About 500 yards from the craggy shores of Europe, the migrants in a rubber
raft were given no choice about the last leg of their journey.

“The Turkish captain took out a knife and then he cut the dinghy,” said Kawa
Hammoush, one of 40 people on board. The holed raft was left to wash ashore.
The trafficker, who charged each of them €1,500 (£1,200) for the five-mile
crossing to Lesbos, was picked up by a jet ski and sped back to Turkey’s
mainland.

At least six of the Syrians on board could not swim, but, with the help of